Hope everyone had a lovely weekend and got to enjoy the fall weather as much as I did (if you live in climates that actually HAVE fall). As the leaves of the mountains change color and thousands of colorful trees flank the river, fall is the time of the year that the Hudson Valley shines. I was lucky enough to show it off to some pretty special visitors: my brother and his wife.
For their birthdays, we bought them a weekend at Buttermilk Falls Inn, a gorgeous bed and breakfast in Milton hidden among 75 acres of endless tress and ponds. City friends, if you’re looking for a getaway from all the hustle and bustle, this is your place! We ate some very delicious food, walked over the Hudson River and even got to show them some of our fave HV hot spots.
I don’t think we could have asked for a better day, and it was fun to show them around my new home.
But enough about my weekend. Let’s talk about Celebrity Cruises Healthy Living Panel at Rouge Tomate in NYC. As I mentioned on Friday, I was lucky enough to be invited to this breakfast panel, moderated by editor-in-chief of Food and Wine magazine, Dana Cowin, where 4 brilliant minds in the culinary industry (including Food Network’s Chopped judge Marc Murphy) discussed healthy food trends.
Celebrity Cruises has partnered with SPE Certified to expand its healthy dining options with scientifically-grounded, third-party validation of their merits. More on this later.
Don’t let the word “panel” fool you into thinking that this event was boring. As we noshed on delectable cuisine prepared by Rouge Tomate, we listened to 30 minutes of lively discussion from everything to sustainable food preparation, to yes, how NOT to kill restaurant patrons.
Here are the top 5 things I learned from these culinary geniuses:
1. Killing Restaurant Patrons is Bad PR:
I hope you gathered from my headline that I was being dramatic, but in all seriousness, this has actually become a real concern for restaurant owners and chefs? Why? Over the past decade, there has been a rapid increase in food allergies amongst both adults and children. Chefs need only worry about “the Big 8” food allergens: cow’s milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts (for example, walnuts, pecans, almonds, and cashews), fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat. These foods account for 90% of food allergies and can cause life-threatening anaphylaxis.
Does anyone remember the Sex and the City scene where Carrie claims to be allergic to parsley to make sure it doesn’t end up in her sauce?
Then, epic fight with Berger ensues, they take a break, he comes back with carnations and leaves her the infamous post-it in the morning saying he wants to break up. (If you haven’t seen this SATC episode, you must. It’s one of my faves!)
Anyway, I digress. The point is that this happens very often, and chefs know it! But regardless of whether patrons “make up” allergies, chefs have to take these allergies very seriously. I was impressed at just how much trouble restaurants go through to ensure that staff and diners can very easily identify foods that contain these allergens. John Suley, Culinary Director, Celebrity Cruises, spoke about icons on the menu that help diners identify dishes that are, for example, gluten-friendly. Marc Murphy provides staff with an allergy sheet, so that they know if any foods contain these allergens. “It’s bad press to kill people,” he joked, while also acknowledging that he knows the “gluten thing” is sometimes more of a trend than an actually allergy.
And, finally. Jeremy Bearman, Corporate Executive Chef, SPE Certified and Rouge Tomate, works with an RD that puts together a sheet of what is in each dish, and waiters are responsible for knowing this sheet backwards and forwards. After all, as Cowin pointed out, if you have a peanut allergy, ask a server about whether its in your dish, and the server seems “iffy,” you don’t exactly have much confidence in that information!
2. Chia Seeds Are SO Hot Right Now
When Cowin asked the chefs about the “superfood of the moment,” the majority cited chia seeds (kale and blueberries were also mentioned). I was actually somewhat surprised by this, because I’ve been cooking with chia seeds for two years! (Check out my super-easy Carrot Apple Chia Muffins)
This actually got me thinking about the “cycle” of healthy eating. I wonder if our world (the crazy healthy living people) usually discovers an ingredient first. We experiment with it like crazy, putting it in everything from smoothies to muffins and eggs. Then, as the mainstream world starts to become more familiar with it, high-end chefs start to use that ingredient as well. Perhaps they wait until that point, because if they introduced it too early, the general consumer wouldn’t be ready for it!
3. Healthy Doesn’t Mean Sacrificing Quality
Healthy eating has a bad rap because it’s often associated with dieting (a word that, by the way, Cowin thinks should be expunged from the dictionary). But REAL healthy eating is about sourcing local ingredients, balancing nutritional elements of a dish, using healthy fats and drawing from exotic spices to make flavors unique and memorable.
Just check out our menu of healthy foods from breakfast at Michelin-starred Rouge Tomate:
I think the menu speaks for itself. Lots of local sourcing and unique preparations of healthy ingredients, such as kale, yogurt and polenta.
So many highlights in this meal, but here are some of my favorites.
The pumpkin-apple butter and house-made ricotta were phenonomenal.
My pumpkin-maple scone was already singing with fall flavors, but these delectable condiments elevated it to another level.
I shared THIS gorgeous yogurt parfait with you on Friday, and though the entire parfait was delicious, I have never in my life tasted such fresh and succulent grapes.
Then, there was the main dish. The egg, polenta, kale and chicken sausage combined for the perfect bite, but the kale stole the show. Best kale I’ve ever tasted, hands down.
The portions were perfect and I literally couldn’t stop thinking about the kale all day. Now, THIS is healthy eating, my friends.
3. You Can Still Eat Healthy on a Cruise
I don’t know about you, but when I think of a cruise, eating healthy is the LAST thing I plan on doing. For my senior trip in high school, I went on a cruise to Mexico, and a vast majority of a our daily food intake was pizza and ice cream. The cruise was amazing, but the way I felt after eating that food for 5 days straight was NOT.
Well, Celebrity Cruises approaches food a bit differently. They’ve found a way for you to eat healthy and tasty food on their ships.
As culinary directory, Suley noted, “Consumers’ desire for healthy dining options has evolved from a small niche several years ago into the general mindset today, with developments like the ban of transfats, nutrition labeling, and passionate dietary followings such as vegan, gluten-free and low-carb, so this was the ideal time to rethink our approach to healthy dining.”
(Chef Suley adds just a DASH of salt to another award-winning dish.)
One of the reasons Celebrity Cruises hosted this event was to discuss their recent ground-breaking partnership with SPE Certified, a unique certification and consulting program designed to enhance the nutritional quality of meals, without compromising taste. SPE’s team of experts include chefs, nutritionists and RD’s, who give dishes a seal of approval, based on key criteria, including seasonality, sourcing and sustainability. An SPE Certified dish promises to be low in salt, saturated fats and processed ingredients, while packed with nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
But the best part, SPE certification means a dish is nutritious AND delicious!
SPE Certified’s high set of standards has certified more than 60 dishes on the menus of Celebrity Cruises’ main restaurants, designated by the organization’s signature squiggly red symbol.
I haven’t had the pleasure of cruising on Celebrity just yet. That said, the cuisine at Rouge Tomate was also SPE-certified, and I can attest to the fact that it was one of the best meals I’ve eaten all year!
(watching the chefs at Rouge Tomate work their magic)
I cannot wait to try out Celebrity Cruises’ dishes. Check out the information here. Now, about that cruise…
(SPE-Certified Seared Branzino, a favorite amongst Celebrity guests)
4. Sustainable has a Different Meaning for Cruise Ships
Bearman shared an important reminder with the crowd: farm to table isn’t ALWAYS healthy. After all, I might pick up a double-fried apple cider donut from the farmer’s market that’s covered in chocolate (sourced from a local chocolatier)…but that doesn’t necessarily make it healthy ya’ll!
What I found most interesting as we discussed sustainability and farmer’s markets are the ways that Celebrity Cruises make their food sustainable. Obviously, they don’t have just one farmer’s market since they travel across the world. Instead, they’ll call ahead to local suppliers of places that they will be in port.
For example, Suley talked about how, when Celebrity goes to Alaska, they’ll source the fish from local supplier by calling ahead up to 4 months in advance to ensure that enough product is available. They’ll rarely actually go to Farmers Markets when they dock the ship. After all, they do have quite a large audience to prepare food for (2K plus!).
However, when docking in Italy, they will sometimes go to the markets to pick up fresh meats and cheeses, such as iberico. And in these cases, they’ll be sure to “tell the story” of the food, so that restaurant patrons can truly appreciate the authenticity and quality of what is on their plate.
5. Vegetables are the New Meat
This revelation certainly excited a veggie-loving Sometimes Healthy Girl! Simply put, there is a new trend in the culinary world where vegetables are the star of the show, with meat playing more of a supporting role. Suley used the example of a squash dish, where the big acorn squash is front and center and bacon merely helps to enhance the flavor. He also spoke of cauliflower steak and broccoli steak.
For a Nebraska girl that actually does NOT like steak, these sound like steaks I might actually be interested in ;-).
The panel ended with everyone sharing their POV on healthy eating. Portion control was unsurprisingly, the most popular answer. As Murphy smartly stated, “You don’t drink until you fall down. So don’t eat that way either.” And I thought Cowin said it best when she stated, “Dieting is a fad. Eating healthy is a way of life.” Being a healthy living blogger, I’ve certainly heard similar advice before, but the words carry more weight when they come from the mouths of such respected figures in the culinary world!
Many thanks to Celebrity Cruises for the invitation to such a wonderful event!
Believe it or not, I’m back to the city AGAIN today. Off to finish a few things before I leave!
YOUR TURN (answer any of the below!):
What is a trend that you have seen in healthy eating?
Do you think healthy foods take a couple years to go mainstream? (like with chia seeds)
Ever been on a cruise? Did you eat healthy?
What do you think about Celebrity Cruises SPE partnership?
What is one word you would use to describe healthy eating?
Wow – so much info! Good for Celebrity for taking such giant strides to provide healthy, satisfying, delicious food to their customers! It’s really impressive!
I think a big trend now in healthy eating is healthy drinking – green drinks/juice pressing/protein shakes…that kind of thing. And if you’re making it with the ‘right’ ingredients then it can be nutritious and delicious! Win-win!
In terms of a new health food, I can’t think of one right now…but with anything else I think it takes a good while for it to gain popularity long term….people don’t like change or to introduce new things….most people think “if it ain’t broke…” (in my opinion! lol)
Great post!! 🙂
Sammy @ Peace Love and Ice Cream recently posted…Yay or Nay?
Yes, I need to hop on the green juice bandwagon pronto.
Agree with you on the “if it ‘aint broke” mentality. So true 🙂
Wow, that’s so cool that you got to meet Marc Murphy AND Dana Cowin. She is my foodie crush!
I have never been on a cruise before, but I am much more enticed to go after seeing all of the effort that Celebrity puts into making their food sustainable, delicious and EVEN healthy!
A trend I’ve seen in healthy eating lately is Mediterranean food. I think people are seeing that it’s both tasty and healthy, especially with all of the olive oil. I can’t get enough of hummus!
Yes to Mediterranean food! All that good fat in their has to be good for something 🙂
Wow, I have to admit, I have a bit of food envy from that meal at Rouge Tomate. The kale sounds amazing, but I really want that pumpkin scone!
I think it’s pretty cool that Celebrity Cruises calls places ahead of time to source local food. This is definitely something that makes me WANT to take a Celebrity Cruise (among other things!). My boyfriend and I are actually considering going on a cruise, so this came at the right time.
A trend in healthy eating? Well, I’d have to go with juicing. It seems everyone is drinking green juice these days!
Let me know if you decide to go with Celebrity!